I'm trying a second time to produce a sweet oat pilaf. By pilaf I simply mean a dish where the oats are neatly loose from one another instead of sticking together in a poridgy mass. I have read some buckwheat kasha recipes where the buckwheat was first mixed with beaten egg to coat the kernels and then heated in a frying pan with the goal of keeping them separate. That will be my approach this time. This would probably work better in the oven, but I'm currently in Russia with an oven that cannot be controlled precisely, so I'm going to work on the stove top.

• 2 cups whole oat groats
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 5 cups boiling water
• 4 small onions, coarsely chopped
• Vegetable oil, neutral tasting (not olive), enough to cover the bottom of the frying pan
• 4 medium cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• About a tsp of salt
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1/2 pound of golden brown (not yellow) raisins. This was really three handfuls; I have big hands.

Method

1. First I beat an egg. Mixed in 1 cup of oats. Mixed so that every grain was coated. Heated the mixture in a medium frying pan (with a heavy bottom) over lowish heat with the goal of cooking the egg and separating every single grain. By the time the first batch was done, the egg was leaving a residue in the bottom of the pan that was beginning to turn brown. I hate brown egg mass. Scrubbed out the pan. Repeated the process with the second cup of oats and the second egg. Scrubbed out the pan again.
2. Then I added the vegetable oil to the bottom of the pan and added the chopped onions. When they were approaching translucency, I added the garlic, then the curry powder, then pepper. Cooked briefly.
3. Added the boiling water. Added the oats. Roughly evened them out in the pan. Added the raisins. Added the bananas on top. Sprinkled with the salt. (Next time do the salt before the raisins and bananas.)
4. Covered the pan. Put the flame to the smallest level possible. Intended to let it cook for 50 minutes.

Now the processs of watching begins, since this is an experiment...

• 45 minutes into the process this stuff is smelling freakin' great.
• 50 minute check. Still smells freaking great. Water still remaining. Oats from the bottom of the pan already edible. Should have checked the oats on the side as well, but I didn't. Taste... can't tell yet, hard to say. I'll give it ten more minutes.
• 60 minute check. Side oats are also ready. Still too much water in the mess, so I'm removing the lid. Next time I'm thinking 4 cups of water might be sufficient.
• 70 minute check. Yup, 5 cups was too much. Next time four cups. For now I'll leave it be to get rid of more liquid. If that doesn't work, I'll eat it watery.
• 80 minute check. Still too watery, but I don't want to cook it anymore. I have turned off the flame and will let it simply vent to the air. We'll see what it is like in 20 minutes.

Results and commentary

• First off, in terms of keeping the grains separate this approach was a complete and total success. In fact, it was so successful that I'm wondering if my original premise was wrong. Maybe when using whole oats you don't have to worry so much about the grain turning into a goopy mass. Next time around I'll use only 4 cups of water.
• Flavor-wise this turned out great.
• I had worried that the dish would burn for a couple reasons. First off, oat porridge made with flakes burns easily if there is too little water. Secondly, the addition of banana makes it burn more easily. This time around there was no burning issue whatsover. When I use less water next time, I'll have to keep my eyes open more carefully just to make sure.
• Next time around I'll try to make a savory pilaf with some kind of meat.

I think that cooks avoid whole oats because they take a long time to cook. Now that I know how easy they are to cook, I won't avoid them in the future. The boiling water plus low flame approach worked great.

I liked my millet pilaf so much the other day that I decided to try the same thing with oats. Oats are harder to get to a pilaf texture.

• 4 small onions, coarsely chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 tbsp of curry powder
• Maybe a tsp of black pepper
• Some salt
• 1 sliced banana
• 1/2 pound of golden brown (not yellow) raisins
• 2 cups of oat flakes
• 5 cups of hot water

Grabbed a heavy frying pan, not one of those flimsy aluminum jobs. Something with a solid, thick bottom. Covered the bottom with sunflower oil. Poured in the oats. Very slowly heated, trying to coat every flake and slightly cook them. The purpose of this process was to try to end up with seperate flakes, not mush. Removed the flakes to a bowl after a while so I could continue using the same frying pan.

More oil. Soften the onions. Add the garlic, cook briefly till fragrant. Add the curry powder. Cook briefly. Add the oats, raisins, banana, hot water. Simmer.

Stir every 5 minutes to prevent the oats from sticking and burning on the bottom of the pan. Remove when oats are just past al dente.

In terms of getting separate flakes, this was a failure; I probably needed to cook them till they slightly changed color. In terms of flavor it was a complete success. Next time around I will try whole oats if I can find them, and probably use a couple of beaten eggs to see if if I can't get the groats to remain separate. That's a trick that Russians sometimes use with buckwheat kasha main dishes.

I made this in Kazan from stuff on the shelf. The last occupant left some millet groats, golden raisins and banana chips. Don't remember the last time I cooked millet. Still, if I can't make a decent curry-spiced pilaf out of that, then take away my chef's card!

• 4 small onions, coarsely chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1 tbsp of curry powder
• Maybe a tsp of black pepper
• Some salt
• 1 cup of banana chips
• 1 cup of yellow raisins
• 2 cups of millet
• 5 cups of hot water

Softened the onions in olive oil. Added garlic, fried a moment. Added curry powder. Cooked a bit. Added millet, hot water, raisins, banana chips. Boiled a while. Tasted the liquid. Added pepper & salt. Boiled till the millet was about al dente.

I had wanted this to be a pilaf, and indeed the millet came out fine without being mushy. Not quite a pilaf, but still very tasty.

Used this polenta recipe today. Adequate. I couldn't find Bob's Red Mill Corn Grits, so I used rough corn flour. Turned out fine. Added a cup of grated cheddar. When I've steamed polenta before, it worked better. No chance of burning. This version had to be stirred all the time.

This is a recipe adapted from recipesecrets.net.

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup dried tart cherries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 3 cups cooked quinoa (1½ cups uncooked)

Put onion, celery, cherries, walnuts, thyme, marjoram, pepper and margarine in a large nonstick skillet. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender; stir occasionally. Add quinoa; mix well. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.

Description:
"This flavorful combination proves that nutritious eating doesn't need to be bland and boring."

I forgot to add the pepper this time. Made it boring. I prepared the quinoa with vegetarian chicken-broth equivalent. Wonder if the water version would be better with the subtler vegetable purpose of this recipe?

2022-11-30: I like this recipe, and it works well for the family members who have Celiac Disease. If you are out of quinoa, you can substitute cooked rice. When I made it yesterday, I used raw pecans instead of roasted walnuts. Walnuts kinda suck.

I have some smallish amounts of grain left, so I decided to try a variation on the quinoa I recently did. Here it is.

• 2¼ cups of water
• 3/8 cup of red quinoa
• 3/8 cup of steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup of millet
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 3 Roma tomatoes, drained of pulp & seeds, chopped.
• 1 serrano pepper, seeded, minced.
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• ⅓ cup lemon juice

Procedure

1. Put water & salt in a pot, bring to boiling.
2. Add quinoa, millet, oats; cover and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes. If water is left after 20 minutes, uncover and simmer till almost gone but grain is not sticking to pan.
3. Remove from stove, let cool.
4. Add onions, tomatoes, serrano and garlic. Toss together.
5. Whisk olive oil & lemon juice together. Toss with grain/tomato mixture.

This turned out edible. I think the oats made it a bit slimy.

When my father's home was sold, I inherited the family pressure cooker. Tried to use it. Problem: the rubber seal on the inner ring is gone. Cooking didn't work. Ordered one on the internet. Installed it. So today I decided to try it out on brown rice.

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced

I filled the pressure cooker with just a bit of water, barely less than the height of the trivet that fills it. Made aluminum foil handles to pick up the dish. Filled a glass dish with two cups of chicken broth and one cup of brown rice. Placed the dish in the pressure cooker and sealed it. Put it on the stove without the rocker on top until I saw steam coming out. Put the rocker on. Set the timer for 15 minutes.

In the meantime I browned some onions in some olive oil. When the onions were starting to turn brown, I threw some cumin over the top and mixed it in. Then I threw in 5 cloves of minced garlic. Let them cook about a minute. Removed from heat.

When the timer rang, I removed the rice and drained it in a collander. Mixed the rice with the onion mixture. This tasted okay. I like the texture a lot more than regular rice.

For next time:

• Next time I'll let the rice cook 20 minutes.
• I used the natural release method. When you do that, you really need to allow all the pressure to release by itself. I let it open a bit too early, and some steam & rice splattered.
• Next time I'll brown the onions a bit more.
• Next time I'll add serranos to the onion mixture.

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa (cooked red quinoa is especially visually attractive)
• 2 cups water
• 1 -2 medium tomato, cut into cubes
• 1 medium onion or 6 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 small green pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (opti)
• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh mint, Finely Chopped or 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. Put the quinoa in a wire strainer and thoroughly rinse with hot water to remove any bitter flavor.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the water and quinoa to a boil over high heat.
3. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes. (Mom tells me it may take longer. Probably depends on your definition of “simmer.”)
4. Let cool completely.
5. Stir the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, parsley and mint into the quinoa.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, oil, garlic and salt.
7. Pour over the quinoa and toss well.
8. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Carol's recipe (Dick's wife). This is a lot like tabouli. Y'know, you could do this with a lot of other grains.

It turned out okay. I used the dried mint. Forgot the garlic. Still turned out okay. I'm not a parsley fan, so I'd probably reduce it next time.

Second attempt turned out great. Reduced parsley to 1 cup chopped. Used fresh mint. Flavored the water with 2 tsp of Whole Foods' vegetarian chicken broth.

• 1.5 cups of water
• 2/3 cup of quick oats

Pour water in a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup. Add oats. Put in microwave for 2 minutes.

New microwave. 2 minutes is too long. 60 seconds works if I want the oatmeal more in drinkable form than porridge style.

Now it's time to try the next round of oat pilaf. This time I'm experimenting with not using egg on the oats, but rather frying them up first in oil, as many rice pilaf recipes do. I'll include chicken this time as well, so I'll have to use a larger casserole dish. I don't have one that is both big enough and has a lid, so this time I'll increase the liquid a bit and put it in the oven uncovered. I'm bummed: I forgot the jalapenos this time.

Ingredients

• 7 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 1 onion, chopped coarsely
• 1/2 onion, chopped small but not fine
• olive oil
• canola oil
• 1 cup of steel-cut oats
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes
• 2.25 oz can of sliced black olives, juice included
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns, ground

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Put casserole dish in.
2. Pour some olive oil in a frying pan. Put thighs in pan in a circle with the 1/2 onion in the middle. Fry the thighs until you get some browning and crisping on the thighs and then flip. Flip the onions at the same time. Remove the chicken. Reserve the fond. Chop the chicken.
3. Pour canola oil into a pan. Add oats. Make sure each grain is coated with oil. Toast oats until they slightly change color. They will have a slightly toast smell. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Begin frying remaining onions in olive oil.
5. After they have softened and reduced in size a bit, add cumin and turmeric. Cook for a bit. Add carrots. Cook a while longer.
6. To the onion mixture add stewed tomatoes, the olives with juice, salt, pepper, and two cups of chicken broth. (I actually just used water plus a tablespoon of Whole Foods vegetarian chicken broth powder.) Bring to a boil. Add oats and fond. Bring to a boil.
7. Remove casserole dish from oven. Add oat mixture; yes, it will bubble up at first. Even the mixture out and add the chopped chicken on top. Place the casserole back in the oven.
8. Cook for 55 minutes uncovered

Results

This turned out fine, though maybe not as good as last time. The frying of the oats effectively kept the grains all separate at the end of cooking. I forgot the jalapenos, so it was milder than I like, but it had a flavor I think my niece and nephew would eat. The extra liquid mean it took longer than it had to. A cup less liquid would have taken less time and maybe left the oats a bit firmer.

For next time

I think I will try sauteing the onions and then adding the oats to that mixture to see if the grains become sufficiently coated with oil without using a separate pan.